

A police officer places crime scene tape around a piece of evidence at the Virginia Beach Municipal Center following the mass shooting on Friday, May 31. [John-Henry Doucette/The Princess Anne Independent News]


Tragic. Senseless. Inexplicable.

Terror. Hatred. Violent.



“Life doesn’t have to be this way, and it shouldn’t be this way,” said Attorney General Mark Herring in a statement following the murder of 12 public servants at our Municipal Center by one of their peers.

So, that leads us to the inevitable word we are all thinking: “Preventable?”

In a word, no.

I wish I could say that background checks, metal detectors, constant guards, confiscation of all weapons, limiting magazine cartridges, banning silencers, limiting gun licenses, improving mental health, providing counseling or midterm evaluations with employees, more health care, whatever your cause de jour that could explain what happened would prevent what actually happened.

I can’t, and I won’t.

There is only one word for this: evil.

Sometimes we need to really just call things what they are.

This act was not committed by someone affronted. 

These murders were not done by someone who didn’t have an opportunity to succeed in life. 

This was not an act of some freedom fighter seeking their people’s liberation.

This was done by someone with malice. With boiling hatred. With premeditated destruction solely in mind. 

With the calm, cool, and calculating demeanor to resign their post mere hours before committing violence upon the innocent.

Did I mention evil?

This was a self-centered, narcissistic, 35-minute horror show perpetrated with the absence of love. 

At this point, I could speculate and begin to wonder what could motivate a person to commit such heinous acts on public servants who are merely trying to keep the water moving and bridges standing, but that would be giving this person way too much credit.

Ultimately, there is nothing government, the gunman’s colleagues, his network, the police, building security and others could have done to keep this man from his diabolical work.

So, if not preventable, why?

In prior columns, I have written about loyalty, love, and personal responsibility. 

We cannot see into the hearts of people, but we do know that all people are capable of incredible acts of heroism, compassion, and sacrifice, such as Ryan Keith Cox, the 50-year-old pastor’s son and steady voice of calm who shepherded his colleagues to safety in the face of unspeakable danger that cost him his life.


Cox has rightfully been described as having a servant’s heart. He proved it. So did the first responders who navigated the maze of Building 2 and confronted evil head on.

Unfortunately, just as Cox was in the light, some completely succumb to darkness. We don’t have to look far for examples. 

Gov. Ralph Northam noted in a speech calling for a special session of the General Assembly that we lost 1,028 Virginians due to gun violence in 2017. Hatred and anger are at the root of much of this loss.

I don’t fault people for looking for controls to protect themselves and seek safety. The reality is that evil will always try to find a way, and it is always checked by love.

While we lost 12 of our family, friends, and community servants, if not for love and bravery, it would have been more. 

And it is love that ultimately triumphs.

Hoeft, a retired Navy spokesperson, hosts The J.R. Hoeft Show, a weekly podcast available via jrhoeft.com. He lives in the Hickory area of Chesapeake.

© 2019 Pungo Publishing Co., LLC

The Independent News


  1. What if, as a Forbes article suggests, Mr. Craddock’s email noting he was resigning for personal reasons, was a cry for help? And no one acted, or even thought to check on him, or simply asked if they could help him? What if we are ignoring the potential facts? I am saddened that this is being referred to as an act of evil. It suggests pure intolerance and perhaps the very nature of evil is rearing it’s igly head in this article

  2. Thank You Governor McAuliffee for making all Virginia Beach City buildings “ GUN FREE ZONES” !! Now we need more laws that stop innocent people from defending themselves and others.
    Not to mention these mass shootings almost always happen in gun free zones. The killers are cowards, if there is a possibility of resistance, they chose another option.
    Gun free zones make those who follow the laws fish in a barrel!

  3. I am merely posing a hypothetical based on everything given in news reports, and my prior knowledge of incidents like this. And the fact that most would say he’s ‘evil’ shows how very misunderstood he, and everyone like him is/was.
    Craddock worked for the city for 15 years.
    He no longer had a wife, and never had a life outside of his work for the City.
    He gets into a confrontation with someone who hasn’t even worked there for five years. Craddock is told that this person will be fired Friday morning. One of the victims is so concerned about firing this person Friday morning she tells her husband she wants to bring a gun to work. Keep in mind, she is not worried about Craddock.
    Friday morning meeting is held, this person was not fired.
    Craddock went back to his desk, wrote the email, and the supervisor (who is now deceased) who responded to the email accepted it.
    Craddock walked away from his desk, went to the bathroom, brushed his teeth, went down to his car to retrieve his firearms.
    The city who he devoted 15 years to just throw them aside. He had nothing else to live for.
    Right or wrong, good or evil, we are not alike. When you are a completely loyal and devoted individual, and the one thing that you devoted your life to cast you aside…what would you do?
    Think about that long and hard. What you would do, personally.
    Now, look at Craddock and see what other people would do. Because if you are the person who doesn’t care and says you’d move on (which you likely are because you are reading this right now), know that there are millions of people who feel like Craddock and you run that risk that someone else doesn’t feel exactly the same way.

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